African American males' threat perception when spouses earn higher income

African-American Males

Racial discrimination is very rampant especially among African-Americans. Until now, most African-Americans have not yet forgotten their ancestor's experiences during the slavery period, and up until now, most African-Americans are still having issues on insecurity and diffidence, particularly among the African-American males.

Once, African-Americans or the blacks were considered as slaves. They were being sold and used to serve the whites. This started the long and continuous battle of the black people to eliminate racial discrimination. Also, there have been several attempts to alleviate the economic status of the blacks because poverty was the primary reason why the whites (and other race for that matter) took advantage of them. But it seems that improving the blacks' economic status is not an easy task. There is one survey gathered last 2000 revealing that Blacks has the highest percentage of unemployment rate when compared to the Hispanics or the Whites. (http://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2001/Nov/wk2/art03.htm,2001).

In a detailed study analyzing the employment rate of Black males (compared to other race), results revealed that there really is an implied negative trend among the African-American males.

From the data above (gathered last 2000, Current Population Survey), it is very clear that Blacks has the highest percentage of unemployment rate when compared to the Hispanics or the Whites. According to the same data, men had higher rates than did women in each of these three groups, especially among the Blacks. There were actually 14.0% male blacks who were un employed and 10.5% female blacks, and Black men were the only major group for whom the work-experience unemployment rate during the year 1999 to 2000 (http://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2001/Nov/wk2/art03.htm,2001). Another survey (from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, April 2003) white unemployment rate was lower by half from that of the blacks' (5.2% and 10.9% respectively) (Byars, 2002).

But why is this happening? How come that majority of the Blacks, or more specifically Black males, are unemployed? Most of the people would think that this happen because of racism or racial discrimination. Is racism really the reason why unemployment of Blacks is continuously increasing? There is one study which proves that racial discrimination has nothing to do with the continuously increasing black's unemployment rate. By comparing the "active job search method" trend of the blacks and the whites, we can easily notice why there is a higher unemployment rate among the blacks. Here are some of the trends (Byars, 2002):

63% of Whites contacted employers directly compared to 61.5% of Blacks who did the same thing

32.5% of Whites compared to 27.7% of Blacks placed or answered ads

31.8% of Whites used "connections" such as their family and friends compared to only 26.7% of Blacks who tried doing it

45.5% of Blacks compared to 36.1% of Whites used a public employment agency

12.5% of Whites compared to 7.9% of Blacks used other methods

Whites usually used more forms of active job search (1.87%) than blacks (1.79%)

Therefore, it can be concluded from the above-stated points that resourcefulness and the attitude itself are the two major factors for being employed. It seems that the Blacks are not so good on this part, especially when compared to the Whites. Persistence, patience and the will to take action play a major role in finding the right job at the right time. If you do not have this kind of attitude, then employers would really not go after you.

Another big factor affecting unemployment rate is education. Again, comparing the Whites and the Blacks, below are the trends in their educational attainment (Byars, 2002):

85% of Whites, 25 years old or higher, have graduated high school, while there are only 79% from the Blacks

18% of Whites in the same age group are in the "some college, no degree" category while 19.7% of Blacks are in this category

9% of Whites have achieved an associate's degree, as compared to 8% of Blacks

37% of Whites have received any type of college degree, as only 24% of Blacks

Educational background is really a must in finding a job, and it seems that majority of the Blacks do not have the desirable level of education for them to be accepted in various industries. It is good to note that more companies, especially those who are and will be hiring personnel for a permanent status would like to hire a person who has graduated in high school at the least, and only those jobs for temporary or contractual basis would be hiring personnel with no or lower level of education.

Since most Blacks seemed lacking on the two most important determinants of being employed - the right attitude and impressive educational background - it is definitely unquestionable why there is a rising number of unemployed Blacks. What happened now to their families? As stated, male Blacks has the higher unemployment rate than the female Blacks. Males are predominantly the breadwinner of most families, hence arising number of unemployed black males must be putting a tremendous negative impact to the black families. This is possibly one of the primary reasons why most Black families are in a poor state. And this is also the very reason why majority of the African-American males as compared to the White men feel more threatened by their spouses who being home more money.